HWG Holdings LP Buys New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 69,004 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $14,534,000. Apple makes up about 5.3% of HWG Holdings LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marmo Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Marmo Financial Group LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.5% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.7% during the first quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 63,356 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the first quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 104,140 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.96. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.